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Microsoft Previews Windows 8 with Cues from iPad and App Store

I'm a pretty big fan of macs, but this windows UI looks innovative and exciting.

I was hoping the OS X after Snow Leopard would bring some revolutionary changes to what is quickly become a stale area of UI design for Apple. They have neglected OS X for years as the iPhone took off.

OS X Lion looks to have yanked a few average ideas from iPad. Windows 8 looks to be a new ballpark and heading towards the OS of the future.

Jobs better have some thing good up his sleeve.
 
Apparently another change in Windows 8 is a black screen of death instead of a blue screen of death. I saw a picture of it.

Is this coming out in 2012?

I also hear the registration code will double in length but I don't know if I trust that rumor. Those are fun to enter though so maybe.

Anyway MS hopefully won't implement anything like the xbox UI. Those blades are so annoying.
 
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dustinsc said:
This seems like a fundamental change in philosophy, and the first major UI change since Windows 95 made Windows so taskbar-centric.
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I don't see how anyone who has really used Windows 7 could possibly make such a statement with a straight face.

It first struck me that Windows 7 was a giant leap when I moved to Windows 7 (from Vista x64) for my main desktop, and upgraded to a later weekly drop (we're a Microsoft partner, and get the TAP builds).

WTF - I lost my jump list history! The TAP upgrades flushed the jump lists.

It seemed like "jump lists" were a minor feature of Windows 7 - but after a handful of weeks they had become a major time saver. To lose them on an upgrade was painful.
___________________

I suggest that you go back to Windows 2000 or NT4 for a few hours, if you really think that Windows 7 is the same as Windows 95.
 
PaulFitz said:
Jobs better have some thing good up his sleeve.
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You're assuming Windows 8 is launching tomorrow. I'd be surprised if Windows 8 launched in 2012.

I like the way Microsoft is going with things like Kinect, Windows Phone 7 (minus the horrible name), and heck even the Kin...

They just do not have the mental wherewithal with Ballmer at the lead to make a break from the baggage of their history. They demoed this thing running full Microsoft Excel in Aero. Who in their right mind thought this was a good idea for a touch demo? This smacks of the internal battles of old where Office killed tablets when they first were developed at Microsoft.

Microsoft is approaching their Copland moment. It will be slow and painful, nothing flashy like the company being bought out or just closing. The market would be worse if Microsoft completely died and Ballmer seems to be determined to see that happen.
 
All the anger and mocking in here just reveals that plenty of the fanboys are really freakin' scared. I use both OSes, so I think it looks ok. No final verdict of course, but for the people saying it's "oh so terrible", you're just revealing your fear.

You also have to admit, one operating system for all platforms with an adaptive UI and interface is way way superior to having an iOS and an OSX, none of which are compatible (this could change Monday of course). The iPad will look quite quaint with it's static little icon grid next to a fully powered Windows 8 tablet that can run anything and everything, including full office, and sync up with a keyboard and mouse if so desired. That's assuming, of course, that Apple doesn't bring something major to the table with iOS5, which I sort of expect they will.
 
ten-oak-druid said:
Apparently another change in Windows 8 is a black screen of death instead of a blue screen of death.

Is this coming out in 2012?
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There's a registry entry that you can change to set the color of the Screen of Death, if you don't like blue (or black).

It's not that useful, because unlike the "Mac vs. PC ads" (or Apple fans on MacRumours) - BSODs are pretty rare unless you have a hardware problem.

Fans won't admit that, though.
 
Is silverlight going to be a big part of this new OS?

Here is a link to the new black screen of death Windows 8 will use:

Windows 8 Switches to Black Screen of Death

And a picture:

555_261x193.jpg
 
I just hope that when Microsoft says 'HTML5" they mean the same HTML5 that the rest of us mean. I don't want to sound cynical, but MS hasn't been particularly good at conforming to open standards in the past.
 
Michael Scrip said:
Without digging too much into history... wasn't Apple invited to Xerox to see what they were working on?

I'm not just going by what was in the movie... I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere too...
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Apple also paid xerox, but facts don't really matter, do they?
 
TennisandMusic said:
You also have to admit, one operating system for all platforms with an adaptive UI and interface is way way superior to having an iOS and an OSX
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Oh, we do now? Why? You make an assumption and back it up by calling a way "quaint". (Who is mocking again?) Please back up your arguments and don't rely on name calling.
 
AidenShaw said:
There's a registry entry that you can change to set the color of the Screen of Death, if you don't like blue (or black).

It's not that useful, because unlike the "Mac vs. PC ads" (or Apple fans on MacRumours) - BSODs are pretty rare unless you have a hardware problem.

Fans won't admit that, though.
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yeah fail screens aren't super common anymore. back in the '90s however....
 
Windows 7 sales have been poor. Only 1/3 of Windows users have 7 and an equal number have XP. Wasn't Vista after XP? I don't know. Anyway the sales have slowed down even more for 7.

Recently the board had to publicly support Balmer because so many people (customers and investors) have called for him to be removed.

So I wonder if 8 will take a while to be released? Perhaps late 2012 or even 2013. If 8 fails then that could be the end of Ballmer's position at MS.
 
This is far more innovative than anything Google has done with Android. That interface is very original and the gestures being used for multi-tasking are very interesting.

What I do not think will work well in that touch environment are the legacy Windows apps. You notice how little time he spent on Excel running in this touch environment? Basically it will run and you can look at things, but editing a document via touch interface with an app that was designed for keyboard and mouse will be painful.

Everything that was designed for touch in that video looked fantastic. The legacy stuff is going to be a checkmark on their compatibility scorecard, but a big fat red X on their usability scorecard.

The whole tiles-based Windows Phone UI is the most refreshing thing I have seen out of MS in a while (besides the Kinect). I love Apple's stuff and prefer it usually, but Jobs said it best at D9 in 2008 -- that Microsoft, first and foremost, is a software company and they were the first ones to show others what a software company should be. Its nice to see Microsoft innovating rather than straight-copying their competition.

I can't stand it when folks just try to copy Apple. Not because I feel like they are creating cheap Apple knock-offs to take Apple's market share, but because we as consumers are being cheated out of innovation that could-have-been. MS has done its share of copying, but this UI is innovative and should help fuel the competitive innovative fires in the industry. For so long now it seems that most of the fuel for those fires has come from Apple.

I'm very interested to see how Windows 8 evolves over the next few months.
 
Don't get too ahead of yourself.

bkj216 said:
This looks nothing like iOS. It makes iOS4 look like a child's toy OS. Apple better bring some heat next week or they're about to be leapfrogged in terms of software.
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About to be leapfrogged? When? Today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month?
Let's talk about "leapfrogging" when there is an actual release date.

In any case, Apple is in no danger of being leapfrogged by a piece of vaporware.
 
I think Microsoft has a chance to do take some mobile OS market share. I think Android is going to lose its luster as developers get sick of making little money. Yes I know a few do but look a the statistics on developer profits. And of course the malware for android is growing and will continue to grow. Also Nokia is on its last legs. The end is near. Perhaps to save themselves they will go to a narrow product line of smart phones and choose windows OS? Maybe.

I don't see Windows for home computers as a growing product though. Besides Apple, personal computer sales continue to slump. Also Microsoft had it made for a long time. All PC manufacturers besides Apple included Windows. But now some are installing WebOS or Chrome as options. For many users that might be preferable to Windows. You might see Non-Apple vendors no longer all under MS's umbrella in a few years.
 
ten-oak-druid said:
Windows 7 sales have been poor. Only 1/3 of Windows users have 7 and an equal number have XP. Wasn't Vista after XP? I don't know. Anyway the sales have slowed down even more for 7.
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Didn't Microsoft sell 350 million copies of Windows 7 in 18 months? Smashing all previous records?

Oh, BTW, even if someone is still using XP or Vista... it's still a Microsoft OS. Microsoft got paid for those too.

Not everyone upgrades... it's always like that though.

But... to say Windows 7 sales have been poor... that's just crazy talk.
 
boss.king said:
Not quite sure what you mean with this.
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Do some research on the history of modern computing and the tech giants.

boss.king said:
That's because Vista was a terrible operating system. It was bloated and demanding. Also, many of people who use XP do so at work, where it is not necessary to upgrade yet. You don't need Windows 7 to use excel and word. Lastly, Win7 is still very familiar and easy to use for XP users.
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If anything Windows 7 is more different from a UI and UX point of view than Vista was. You act like they are so different from XP lol. Oh sorry, the task bar is glossy in Vista and 7 and the windows are glass haha.

boss.king said:
People are not forced to buy it, it is already installed. Are you telling me Apple give's you the option of buying OS9? No? So you could say the same thing, people are being forced into buying that too. Your point is bad and you should feel bad for making it. Windows became a monopoly because it appealed to businesses could run on relatively cheap hardware, thus reducing cost.
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So when you buy a PC you can choose which OS comes with it? WOW! Unless you install Linux you are getting Windows, no choice involved. Yes I can choose to buy a Mac but the simple fact is OEM lock-in and many instances of anti-competitive, illegal, and monopolistic business practices are a HUGE part of how Microsoft got to where it is today! If you don't understand this you simply are uninformed or blissfully ignorant.

boss.king said:
Final tip: you don't need to double space after every sentence.
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Perhaps you could also read up on literary history and punctuation as well. It may be old school but there is nothing incorrect about it._ _ _ _ 4 spaces just for you haha! :p
 
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